Christopher Bickerton ─ The Political Economy of Member Statehood in Europe

Thursday, April 7, 2016

12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Joukowsky Forum

States in Europe are best described as member states rather than nation-states. Their legitimacy derives from their participation in horizontal networks of governance as much as it does from relations with their own citizens. As we saw in Greece, this raises important questions of democracy and representation but what is the political economy underpinning this shift from nation-state to member state? This talk will answer this question, focusing on the rise of disorganized and unmediated forms of capitalism within Europe and their importance in shaping trajectories of state formation.

Christopher Bickerton is a university lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.